Best resources on ADHD information in toddlers?

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I was the mom who vowed NEVER to medicate her child...well never say never. My child has issues and ADHD is one. He is ABOVE his academic level but he can't just focus...in life not focus. Heck school is my saviour I needed to help with his day to day task. We have him on Adderall XR 10mg. THIS IS MY LIFE LINE. He is NOT A ZOMBIE by any means. I tried to weeen him off and OMG..........it was INSANE.
Dont' beat yourself up about this. It's a very personal choice what you do. Get a few opionions and IF you elect to medicate dont' let people make you feel bad about it. You are your child's advocate....who cares what anyone else thinks.

Good Luck

I know of someone who treats this naturally without drugs. She makes dietary changes and possibly adds nutritional supplements if your child is lacking in something. With hyperactivity though, her main thing is the child being dye-free, espec. red #5 I think it is. Her website is www.holisticfamilyhealthcarepc.com and she is so worth the 1 hr trip to get her take on things. I was recommended by someone in my area (Saylorsburg) and would travel to her if I had an acute condition, she's that good!!

I struggled with this for a few years. Changing the diet is the right answer however there is one item that you may want to consider changing. We often thought it was sugar and chocolate with my son but it turned out that he has an allergy to red and blue food dyes. He was exhibiting symptoms of ADHD when he ingested anything with red or blue dye. These dyes are found in just about everything that a child likes. Even foods that do not have the color of red or blue can contain it. Start reading labels its in there. It is a proven fact that these dyes are affecting children of all ages and at all places on the spectrum. We eliminated red and blue from his diet and he is a totally different child. Before you look to meds, please consider this. Also, check out www.tk.mywildtree.com. I currently am working for a company whose founder had two children with food sensitive allergies and medical conditions. We have changed our eating and our lives for the better. Best of Luck to you!

I know exactly how you are feeling. My daughter is 31 months old and is behaving the same way. I just asked the peditrician about it on Friday and he looked at me like I was crazy for even suggesting it at this age. There are five peditricians in the group and he is my least favorite so I plan on following up with someone else at her next appointment. I don't want to put her on any medications or anything I just want to know that activities or things I should be doing with her to help. I am starting to wonder if going organic will help. I have been hearing alot about the benefits and I am wondering if it might help with this as well. I might just give it a try.
I also have a 9 month old little boy who just started crawling a few weeks ago and it has been nothing but bumps and bruises with her around. She loves him but she is just way too hyper and rough around him that he falls over or gets hit with something. I just feel so bad for him.
I am very curious to see what responses you get. I give you lots of credit for doing it alone. I at least have my husband to help me deal with her in the evenings.

We have a behavioral specialist M.D. in our ped. group and he told me that true ADHD/ADD should not be treated with medication until a child STOPS achieving in school. Achievement in academics isn't able to be judged until late kindergarten or 1st grade. Medication is both mind altering AND personality altering and if I were you, I would get a couple of opinions before medicating her at this age. When faced with the decision of whether or not to medicate your child for ADHD, you have to first ask yourself if her ADHD is a problem for her or for you! You don't want to medicate your child for something as simple as a "difference" in her personality.

p.s. The reason I had to speak with a behavior specialist is because my oldest son is hyper and I completely understand your frustration!

Hi D.,
I would start by discussing this with your pediatrician before drawing any conclusions! My son is 5 and he still has a hard time focusing the entire way through a meal! All kids are different and my son is just very "high energy." Oddly enough the more tired he is, the MORE fidgety, less focused and restless he becomes. Does it seem like that with your daughter?
Three is a BUSY year for kids. So I guess my advice would be to talk to your pediatrician about it (maybe a phone appointment, when she won't be around). Good luck to you!

I have a 3 1/2 yo son and niece, a 2 1/2 yo daughter and niece. I absolutely agree that they have vast amounts of energy and all of them go through periods where they can't sit still through dinner or even watch 15 minutes of their favorite movie. How long has your daughter been acting this way? While I'm sure it is driving you crazy, perhaps it is a phase.

Here is a link to information on ADHD from the National Insititute of Mental Health. It should help you start your research. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/adhd/complete...

If your gut still tells you that your daughter is experiencing more than the normal hyper activity of a 3 yo, I would seek out an official diagnosis. Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a child psychologist or a children's behavioral health agency. You can also find one on your own if your pediatrician doesn't share your concerns. Behavior therapy can be used to help your daughter. If she truly does have ADHD and you don't see an improvement with the behavior therapy you can explore the medication option. Just be sure to discuss your concerns.

Well my 18 month old is going through a lot of tale tale signs that she like her Mother and her father (I am Nana have full custody of her) so I can pretty much expect this. One thing you really need to do is have her Hearing tested start with if she has just a slight hearing problems that can contribute to a lot of problems, do not make the diagonalizes yourself your not qualified to that, you may think such as I do they hear perfect. If that is not any of the problem call your local health unit and ask who do you need to get in touch with to have her tested. They have wonderful state of the art tests now that can determine what is going on and what needs to be addressed. Keep in mind that you have until a child is 3 to try and re-program their brain and get them on the right track. Good Luck and I hope this will help you with this. P.S also keep in mind children with addhd are not near as advanced as what I read about your daughter, so you may really want to get some testing done asap

Although your daughter is "hyper" is there anything in particular that she focuses on? Some children are more visual and will focus on pictures. Others are more auditory and will focus on words. I am a third grade teacher who supports trying to find alternative ways to focus children than to use medicine. I have lots of ideas that might help you but I don't want to write too much unless I know whether you have noticed anything at all that does get your daughter to stand still and focus.